I first came across these three years ago, so this is hardly new. Plus there’s already plenty of information on the internet about these scams already. Thing is I started getting a few more of these recently so that means they’re obviously doing the rounds again. That’s why I decided to write this post again as a fresh new warning to those who may not be familiar with the type of scams involved.
The format of the Chinese Domain Scam is simple; you receive correspondence from someone claiming to represent some domain registration agency somewhere in Asia, China or Hong Kong usually:
Dear Manager/CEO/Director/Whatever
We are a domain registration company based in China/Hong Kong/Asia….(more…)
Internet Explorer 6 was the default browser bundled with Windows XP and has been around for nine years now. Since then there have been two new iterations of IE; IE7 in 2006 copying Opera and Firefox with the introduction of tabbed browsing, and IE8, released last year.
As more and more people upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 7 is beginning to loose ground and Internet Explorer 6 has begun its slow slip into obscurity.
I am writing this on behalf of all the designers and developers out there who wish to speed up the process.
Back at the beginning of IE6’s life cycle rival browsers like Firefox and Opera didn’t have a fraction of the amount of users they have today. As IE6’s rate of adoption increased, however, so too did the adoption rate of these new rival browsers, as many people jumped ship and never returned – much to Microsoft’s annoyance.
(In fact the company often went to some rather sneaky lengths to protect its market share.)
In addition to its long history of security flaws which didn’t provide a back door, so much as a wide open front door, to hackers, IE6 was also a web designers nightmare. For one it had issues displaying .png files correctly plus a whole host of CSS styling issues, such as its own unique interpretation of positioning rules.
In short, the browser didn’t always display pages the way it was supposed to. So whenever somebody designed a website and wrote the code to proper international web standards, the result, when viewed in the Microsoft browser, often looked terrible. This meant that web designers (including yours truly) often had little choice but to design separate stylesheets just so the design would look “correct” in the broken browser.
As for web developers… the poor people, they have suffered so much for too long.
The good news for those in the industry, now that Google has officially dropped support for IE6, is that the rest of the world is bound to follow suit. Apple are halfway there already and ongoing issues with Flash also mean that Adobe would undoubtedly be more than happy to dump the browser too. In other words, Internet Explorer 6 has become the new floppy disc drive. (more…)
It has been tried before. And it has failed miserably. Still, with more TV sets out there than computers and smart phones combined, and with lots of new markets emerging in developing or BRIC countries (though in Google’s case not China), the rewards, for whoever can crack it, are enormous.
So no marks for originality this time, Google, but full marks for aggressive assertiveness.
For the last quarter Google have reported revenues of $6.77 billion – hardly a figure to be sneezed at. Despite this the web advertising behemoth is hungry for more and have clearly been watching a lot of TV, just not in the way you might think.
Television has, thus far, been perhaps the only traditional medium not to have been directly impacted by the web. Whilst publishers of books and newspapers, the music industry and Hollywood have all seen their market share, and to some point, their entire business models, decimated by the ascendancy of the Worldwide Web, more eyes are glued on the telly than any other media format, as this article by The Economist explains. So, logically, for a company that makes its money from providing access to content and services provided on the back of selling ad space, such a move was predictable and, one might even say, inevitable.
As I said the vision of combining the TV and the Web is hardly new one. There have been plenty of attempts so far, all unsuccessful, with one such product from 1995, called WebTV, listed as a runner up [scroll down to see entry] on PC World’s worst products of all time.
WebTV was later snapped up by Microsoft becoming MSN TV. Though even with the massive resources of Microsoft behind it, and through partnerships with Sony, Phillips, Samsung, RCA and Mitsubishi, the product never really took off. What it did do, however, was lay bare the hunger that the big corporations all have to merge the world’s two most dynamic and influential mediums.
All things considered, WebTV and its progeny were, in essence, an idea whose time had come but the technology had not come along with it. In the mid-nineties websites were often designed quite badly and browsers were fickle, to say the least. CSS support was often poor or non-existent. Cast your mind back to the first websites you saw, with all those awful gaudy, low-resolution graphics and insipid animations – now imagine how those websites would look, not on an old VGA monitor, but on a big screen TV. The result would be blockier than Legoland. As for watching online videos, forget it. Flash had only just arrived on the scene when WebTV did, and the idea of using Flash for YouTube-style streaming video was ten years away. Using the web for streaming video back then was sort of ridiculous anyway, as everyone was still crawling along on dial-up modems. Though it is humorous to imagine an entire family sitting in the living room reading the words “buffering…” off the big screen impatiently awaiting a low-resolution, minute long Real Player video.
Things have moved on since those days, and rapidly too. We now live in an age of high speed broadband and high definition TV, with 3DTV just around the corner, spurred on by the success by films such as Avatar. Google, like Microsoft and WebTV before it, have already wooed the electronics industry. Sony have signed up and are building Google TV-enabled HDTVs and Bluray players, peripheral manufacturer Logitech has also signed up to make special Google TV set top boxes, Intel has also been announced as a partner and invariably more will be announced soon.
The idea is that these devices will come with an integrated browser/system (Android/Chrome-based) which can access online content direct through your TV. Such a system also makes it easier for people, young and old, to access content. For the older generation in particular, the ability to use the familiar remote control, rather than the alien mouse and keyboard, could make the Web more accessible for millions. (That is presuming they are not the sort who believe that flipping channels too quickly will break the TV.)
Laziness, in the end, is the name of the game. This is television, after all, and so the easier the technology makes it to do things the better. Personally I don’t watch much TV but I do love to watch movies. I’m what you’d call a film buff, actually, and what happens me often (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) is I’ll be watching a movie and see an actor and go, “oh, it’s that guy” and will not be able to enjoy the movie as I’ll be sitting there racking my brains trying to figure out what other film I’ve seen him in lately. With Google TV a quick flip of the remote and I could be on IMDB getting the answer in a matter of seconds all without missing a second of my movie – wonderful. So basically what this offers, amongst many other things, is the ability to access information without having to get off one’s ass to turn on the laptop or pick up the phone. In other words, this is the holy grail for couch potatoes everywhere.
It’s a dream come true for the younger, more net-savvy generation, too. For example, you could be lying back in your living room watching TV and, when your favourite show is over, jump direct onto your Facebook or Twitter account to discuss it with friends during the commercial. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is a rapidly growing trend. The hit TV show Lost, for example, boasted a massive fanbase who would jump online straight after each show to discuss the episode they just watched. Along with other shows such as American Idol, it was one of Twitter’s top trending topics of last year.
Clearly Google are clearly taking the “children are our future” maxim to heart. In this case the device-hungry multitasking children who, although they’re constantly flipping between their phone, their laptop and their games console, are, for the most part, whilst not glued, at the very least passively consuming TV more than any other medium.
What Google are trying to do, in essence, is to provide all these distractions on one single device and keep people there and presumably, to wean a whole generation of new customers within the Google umbrella. Considering Google’s broad spectrum of services on offer; Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, Picassa, YouTube, Buzz, Google Talk, to name a few, and most importantly of all, Google Search, one need never turn on their computer again. Making all these available from one’s armchair at the flick of a remote is a brilliant, if somewhat unoriginal, strategy.
Google really aren’t doing anything new here. They’re simply porting their business model from one media platform to another, something which they’ve already done quite successfully by taking their services from the web to the mobile phone. Now they’re going after TV with the same concept; access to content offset by advertising – plain and simple. Who creates the content is irrelevant.
The reaction from TV networks to this announcement is bound to be mixed. Rupert Murdoch, for example, has no love for Google, and has never missed an opportunity to express his ire at a company he considers to be content thieves. Google also faced an enormous backlash from the major networks when it purchased YouTube in 1996, most notably from Viacom. Whilst Google does police the site regularly to remove copyrighted content the sheer scale of videos and users on the site means it’s people can’t be everywhere at once and such content almost always slips through. Add to this the ease of online piracy and you can see why the majors are clearly worried by any or all threats emanating from the Internet. Thus far they have had little to any success in providing alternatives.
Providing customers the ability to view TV shows online has resulted in various different approaches from paid to completely free. One such example is the TV streaming site Hulu, a collaboration of US broadcasters Fox, ABC and NBC. Although Hulu is highly popular it has not exactly proved to be the revenue generating monster they had hoped for. Not least of which because, in an impatient, attention-deficit afflicted medium like the Web, even 30 seconds of advertising is considered way too much. In North America commercial breaks of an average of 2 minutes occur three times during a 30 minute show, first after the main credits, then halfway through the show and then again before the end credits, shaving what was once a half hour show format down to around 20. People have come to accept this with TV but on the Web it’s unacceptable. The reason is simple, because the Web is an active medium whilst the television is, neurologically-speaking and otherwise, the most passive medium we’ve got.
Still, the major dilemma the networks face is that, whilst more and more people are tuning in, advertising revenues are dropping. What Google offers them is an ideal way to tap into countless unseen methods of generating new revenue through new forms of advertising, by becoming resellers of said advertising platforms and also by keeping the spotlight on themselves by offering increased interactivity with their audience. If you ever watch CNN you’ll see they’re always asking you to join in on the discussion on the Twitter or Facebook pages. But who’s really going to do that? You have to get up off your ass, walk over to your computer, switch it on, wait for it to boot up… ahh forget it! Whereas now you can just flip the remote and open the page direct. With this technology the possibilities for connecting with one’s audience are endless. For example the kids they could watch their favourite cartoon and then, when the show’s over, play an interactive video game starring that cartoon character. Or imagine the possibilities of a fully interactive Who Wants To Be A Millionaire type show where you can be a nationally televised contestant but playing from home.
When it comes to mobilising the masses and providing extra revenue through interactivity nothing beats reality TV, the most successful of all being Simon Cowell’s fleet of interactive talent show franchises and its infinite stream of imitators. Love him or hate him one cannot deny that Simon Cowell has stumbled upon one of the smartest business models in the history of television. Not only does he have this enormous TV juggernaut with all its advertising revenue, there’s also the interactive side of it, the weekly SMS text-in, resultant tours and record sales, etc. You can take American Idol or X-Factor as an assembly line where every part of the process generates revenue, in hundreds of countries simultaneously. Factor in Google TV into that and you can take it even further.
Now imagine that you are afforded even more ways with which to involve your audience, such as through social media. Imagine that instead of having regular TV advertising spots between shows for recording artists and tour dates, you can actually flip your remote and download the music (for a fee or for free, the choice is yours) direct to your set top box or pay to watch additional behind-the-scenes footage on Hulu. Later, when videos go viral on YouTube, like Susan Boyle last year, you can generate even more revenue by specially tailoring your YouTube channel for Google TV. Imagine that the TV networks can also get a cut of the enormous pay per click advertising revenue served up directly to customers. No doubt the network heads, even Rupert, are beginning to see the enormous potential for additional (and in many cases much-needed) revenue.
Now the channel, network or provider (cable company/satellite broadcaster) can sell even more advertising and localise it far more than was ever previously possible. Not just by country or region, but by actual address. Such a service would also be a huge boon for small businesses making TV advertising far more affordable and also far more effective by targeting specific regions only.
How this would work is similar to how the web targets advertising today; by detecting your IP address and using it to determine where you are located based on your local exchange/provider. So, let’s say, for example, you own a local auto dealership or restaurant. There’s really no point in having a national or even regional advertising market campaign carpet bombing the airwaves when your target area is much smaller. With this technology, however, you can create TV advertisements for broadcast but pay far less and only serve those ads to people in your particular catchment area during relevant shows. So the auto dealership could advertise during the Top Gear, the restaurant during Jamie Oliver and the local town sports bar can now advertise directly during the World Cup, only just to a very small audience. You could also, in theory, have live links that then allow people to view the company’s website, read company reviews, see its location in Google Maps and even download those maps to their Android phone’s satnav software. Throw a microphone and some VOIP capability in there and you don’t even need a phone, you can just press a button on your remote control and you can make voice calls or send SMS text messages .
In other words, if this technology takes off, it’s going to turn conventional broadcasting and TV advertising on its head and forever blur the edges between electronic media of all forms. And if anyone has the leverage, the know-how and the ambition to do achieve this, Google has.
And even if Google don’t manage it, and I can’t imagine why they couldn’t, Web-enabled TV, like 3DTV, is bound to hit the market sooner or later, it’s simply a question of when. In the meantime it’s a good idea for business owners to start thinking about how best to prepare for it so they can take advantage of it when it finally arrives.
Broadcasters are going to have to think really hard about how they retain their audiences. This is difficult enough right now, with hundreds, if not thousands, of channels to choose from. But soon they’ll not only have to contend with fickle audiences flipping from one channel to the next, in linear form, from channel one through to channel 999 and beyond, but also with hyperlinks which warp them right out of the telly dimension completely and onto the worldwide web. That’s a ratings war you cannot hope to win without being able to provide compelling, interactive diversions with which to keep them in your orbit. Oh yeah, and anyone working in the field of Teletext, it’s time to start looking for a new line of work, so start sending out your CVs – now.
As for the Web itself, that’s arguably going to have even bigger changes ahead. One obvious point, which I touched on earlier, is how to optimise one’s website for television. In essence, you simply need to think of it as a really big monitor (which, is basically, what it is). So in design terms that means accessibility becomes more important than ever. The last thing you want is to have your web content display as a small box in the centre of a huge blank space of a wide screen, or have graphics that aren’t optimised for the format and look gritty. Other considerations include fonts and colour settings. Colour is of particular importance as televisions are more prone to colour saturation. Google also reiterates that you must always keep in mind that you are now designing not for the web as you know it, rather web for the “living room environment”. You can read Google’s hints for designers and developers here.
One thought I also had is that .tv domains might well become more important now, just as .mobi domains have for mobile devices. This could well be important because, since people will now also be using a remote control, rather just than a mouse or touchpad for navigation, menus will have to be greatly simplified, and, depending on your existing website’s design, or content, it might be a good idea for you to have a specially designed TV-friendly site, once again, for the living room.
Having said that, the living room is not the only place in the house you’ll find a TV set. Indeed the TV set has become like the fireplace of old; always on in the background, often in several rooms at once. In Britain the average number of TVs per household is between 2-3 sets, according to the BBC. Many British households also have more than one Sky Box (or similar set-top box). A large amount of people have a second TV room for children, a TV in the kitchen and/or in the bedroom. So whatever about Google’s advice on designing a webpage for the living room environment, you might also want to consider the other rooms the TV is in.
As for marketing for the bedroom environment? Well, to borrow a phrase from Billy Connolly, we’ll draw a discrete veil over that one shall we?
Not too long ago instant messenging (IM) programs, also known as chat clients, where text is typed and shared in real time (along with emoticons) were ubiquitous and all the big web companies had one.
Microsoft’s MSN Messenger, later renamed Live Messenger, was perhaps the most popular, with Yahoo Messenger (YIM) a close second. These services were linked to Hotmail and Yahoo Mail respectively, however with the advent of Gmail, which offered far more in the way of storage and options, Hotmail and Yahoo both lost a lot of market share. Google later integrated its own Google Talk instant messenger program into the Gmail interface so that one could chat with contacts direct from their browser.
Another one-time big player in the IM market (and indeed the web as a whole) was AOL. AOL’s instant messenger, AIM, whilst also quite popular, suffered from a lot of controversy regarding its installation of a component called Viewpoint Media Player which many considered to be spyware.
Other popular instant messenger programs included ICQ, which was also once the property of AOL, and IRC, one of the oldest and also most popular messenging systems, albeit more so with the “geeky” end of the spectrum than with regular users. It was (and still is) highly popular with members of online communities such as the online gaming community.
Over the last ten years, however, use of instant messengers has diminished with the advent of social networks like Facebook and microblogging sites like Twitter, which allow for real time status updates, as well as other Web 2.0 collaborative platforms such as the excellent Google Wave.
With the advent of VOIP programs like Skype IM programs are nowadays more like hybrids allowing old-style instant messenging in conjunction with free, or low cost, Skype-style calls.
Whilst some companies actively discourage staff from using IM programs, because they don’t want their employees chatting when they should be working, many more are unable to function without them. Obvious examples of such businesses include web design and graphic design firms such as ourselves as well as project managers, writers, transcribers or translation service providers where being able to type to a person or persons in real time without having to pick up the phone provides massive time and money savings. Other applications include inbuilt web applets on company websites which allow customers to chat directly with company representatives, for example, to provide real-time technical support.
So, depending on the company type, instant messenging can provide many advantages to one’s company, and that’s not even including the advantages provided by cheap or free calls with inbuilt VOIP telephony. The only real issue is that with so many different platforms from various different, competing companies, it’s all too possible that the person you want to talk to is using a different program than you are. Installing and running seven different IM platforms is not only impractical it would also slow down your computer, and your productivity, dramatically. Thankfully there are programs out there that allow you to use the one program to access all major chat networks simultaneously and best of all, these programs are also completely free.
(Note: to use these you will still need to set up accounts with the various companies, i.e. you will still need to set up an MSN account, a Yahoo account, a Google account and so forth. You just won’t need to download and install all their IM programs.)
Trillian is a lovely little program for Windows, Mac and mobiles, including the iPhone and Blackberry. It allows you to chat with all major clients, such as MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo and AIM, and, depending on your system, is also compatible with Skype as well as Twitter and the instant messenging features of Facebook and Myspace. This is a great all-rounder program, especially because it’s mobile. Plus, what other instant messenger out lets you send an animated octopus as an emoticon?
Pidgin, formerly known as GAIM, is an open source multi-platform instant messenging system available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It is compatible with all major IM platforms including MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, IRC and other programs such as the popular Polish chat client Gadu-Gadu. Because GAIM is open source it means that it’s constantly being developed and so a number of GAIM plugins exist that add compatibility with Skype, Facebook IM, Twitter and pretty much any other platform you can think of.
Free Alternative to Winzip and Winrar
Yes, technically, Winzip and Winrar are not free. They are what is often referred to as nagware. Software that nags you to upgrade to the pro version every time you use it, in the expectation that you will eventually do as you’re told – expect away, because…
7 Zip is an open source archiver program that’s free to download and use, with great superior compression and compatibility with other formats such as .zip and .rar files. Highly recommended.
Download older versions of software
Finally, to wrap this up, I thought I’d mention a favourite website of mine called Old Version.com.
This site, as it name suggests, allows you to download older versions of a large variety of different software programs, such media players, instant messengers, security programs, utilities, etc. This is a good idea for a number of reasons, perhaps because you upgraded to the latest software version before the bugs were sorted out and need to go back. (I find this tends to happen a lot when the makers of one of my favourite programs gets bought out by a larger company.)
Maybe there is some other compatibility issue, for example you are running an older operating system with which the latest version of the software is not compatible. Often, new software also means an increase in its footprint whereas older versions won’t use up so much system resources. Or perhaps, like me, you often don’t like the direction your favourite program has taken over the years and you don’t like all the extra options and superfluous capabilities. Instead you yearn for a simpler time before the bells and whistles and shiny new interface, when the program just done one thing and done it well and just shut up about it and let you get on with it. And I’m sure we’ve all come across a program which made us feel like that.
So, anyway, that’s it for now and that’s the end of this series, though I will, of course, continue to add new free software posts as time continues. If anyone would like to suggest any other free software programs or make suggestions for future post ideas feel free to comment below.
I got this email this morning, it looks almost identical to Twitter emails except for the fact that the account I received it on does not have a Twitter account connected to it. Bit of a dead giveaway that, but still, it’s quite convincing.
The email says:
Hello, Twitter-er!
You have 2 (or more) unread message(s) from Twitter System.
With a URL underneath, which, in the body of a HTML email, appears to be directed to Twitter, but is in fact directing someplace else. This isn’t new, obviously, there have been emails like this around for years, for Facebook, for online banks, for Paypal and eBay – for every service you can imagine, the idea being to either:
A: Get your Username & Password – especially for financial services like Paypal.
B: Get your Credit Card number & related details.
C: Get you to click on a link that will download malware to infect your computer.
D: All of the above.
Whether it’s a phishing attack or a malware attack the results can be equally devastating so always take precautions. In many email clients all it takes is to hover over any hyperlinks to see where they point to. Worst case scenario you can always right click and copy the URL to the clipboard and then paste it into notepad. This way you’ll know for certain whether the hyperlink in the email is really pointing where it says it is.
Even this can be misleading however. Depending on the font used it can be difficult to distinguish from the real URL and a spoofed one, observe:
www.paypal.com – Paypal.com as normal.
Paypa1.com – Paypa1 (number one) in Times New Roman
PaypaI.com – PaypaI (capital i) in Arial
There’s a million other variants one can do with any number of legitimate websites.
So, if you’re still paranoid – congratulations, you should be! – then you can always look at some of these URL malware scanners to see if there are any nasty surprises lurking in the links of your emails.
Having a good virus and firewall protection layer and ensuring that these programs are regularly updated will help protect you from these sorts of attacks. As will ensuring that you also regularly update and patch your email client, browser and operating system.
Vigilance and common sense, however, is the only true protection – so always remember the five golden rules:
If you’re not sure where the link goes don’t click on it.
If you’re not sure what an attachment is don’t open it.
If you receive unsolicited* (spam) email don’t ever reply to it
Unless your email client or antivirus program already has an automatic email attachments scanning feature, always download and scan attachments first before opening them
and finally
If the email comes from a known contact with links/attachments but with very brief and often baffling and grammatically-questionable text, e.g. “hey u – check this out!” always contact that person and ask whether he/she really sent it or not.
If they reply and say they never sent it then that person’s computer is infected with a virus which has most likely sent itself out to every one of their contacts already. This can be very devastating not just for the security and privacy of a business, but for its reputation too. So if you do suspect you’ve received such a virus be sure to tactfully inform them of that fact, as the sooner they’re made aware of it the better.
Be aware that whilst many spam emails pretend to have an opt-out link at the bottom these are often used to verify that your email address is correct and clicking on them will only result in more spam. It can be hard to tell, sometimes, because you may also be receiving legitimate ezines/newsletters that you subscribed to but have since forgotten about. When in doubt, look the company/organisation up on Google and if you’re still not sure, you can always just flag the emails as spam.
One of the things that many Skype users don’t know about is how to use it with a touchtone voicemail system. If you encounter such a system – e.g. “for accounts press one, for sales press two…” – you can use Skype’s built-in Dial Pad to emulate DTMF dial tones just like on a regular touchtone phone.
To do this firstly ensure you are running the latest version of Skype then follow the steps below:
1. Enter the phone number you wish to call and press the Call button as normal.
If you are searching for ways to get rid of spam you’ll find all manner of sites selling spam protection software. Although many of these programs do indeed offer protection, when it comes right down to it, no program, no matter how many stars and rave reviews it might receive, has yet to come close to the human brain when it comes to detecting and recognizing spam.
Caution and common sense – that’s the true secret to stopping spam. Software only offers a cure and a best-guess cure at that. We’re not here to talk about cures, we’re here to talk about spam prevention.
1. Abandon Ship!
If you’re reading this article odds are you’re already dealing with a massive spam infestation and you’re looking for ways stop it. The truth is, when it gets to that stage, you can’t. Your account is already compromised and the spammers have your address so no matter how many senders you block, a hundred more will take their place. That’s why it’s better to just abandon your old email account and start afresh. Backup any data you wish to retain, like your address book data, and migrate it to your new account. Then send an email to those addresses – and only those addresses – that you wish to remain in contact with.
2. Be Obscure.
A popular technique used by spammers is to automatically send emails alphabetically. (Like if you were to pick up the phone book and start ringing every name from A. Aaronson to Zeke Zimmerman.) Choosing a more obscure email address will help prevent this.
3. Filter, Filter, Filter!
When choosing your new email account, be sure to investigate what spam filtering service the provider offers. Talk to your ISP or hosting provider to find out what measures they have in place. Some companies offer far better protection than others, some offer spam protection for free, others expect you to pay so shop around.
Most free email accounts also offer inbuilt filters, some are quite basic whilst others are quite elaborate. The most effective filters are those which you can set and edit yourself. This way as well as blocking specific addresses and domains, you can also block certain keywords. For example if you’re getting a lot of messages selling counterfeit watches, you could create a filter that automatically deletes any email with the keyword “Rolex” in the subject and/or email body.
4. Keep it Private!
Never, under any circumstances, publish your private email address on the web – for example on forums, blogs, groups or social networking sites. Spammers use automated programs known as spiders to trawl through the web harvesting public email addresses. All it takes is for you to publish your address once and get picked up by one of these spiders and before you know it your new account will be submerged in spam.
5. Use a Dummy Account.
Never sign up to anything online with your personal email address. Create a new account (or just use your old account – it’s full of spam anyway right?) and the next time a website sign-up page requires that you give them an email address give them this dummy one instead.
6. No Chain Letters.
You’ve probably got dozens of these, “forward this on to everyone you know and good luck will be your reward.” More than likely, though, spam will be your reward.
These chain letters are a spammer’s dream. Think about it, they’re sent from one person to another, disseminating through offices and companies, multiplying all the while, collecting hundreds upon thousands of addresses in the process.
Beware, too, of chain letters masquerading as petitions. Even if their stated goal seems noble they serve the same sinister purpose. If you receive an email like this from a friend explain to them that you will not be forwarding the email and explain why.
Whatever your beliefs or affiliations may be there’s one thing we can all agree on – the planet doesn’t need any more spam. If you want to fight injustice or change the world you’ll do it far more effectively through acts of charity and conscientious activism than forwarding chain emails.
7. Never, EVER Reply to Spam!
Don’t take it on their honor that they’re going to remove you if you ask them. Spammers don’t have honor, that’s why they’re spammers. If you ask to be removed you’ve basically just told them that your address is active, and you’ll just get more spam.
And whatever you do, don’t ever click on links from any unsolicited emails. These links will either try to download a virus onto your computer, or will lead to a page trying to scam you or steal your personal and/or financial details.
So there you have it, all you need to know to stop spam. You don’t need to fork out huge amounts of cash for spam protection software suites or anything of the sort. All you need to do is use your head and apply what you have read and enjoy your bright, new spam-free future!
